Music Review Show

What does it actually mean to be a grassroots music promoter in 2026? David Littlefair joins the Drowned in Sound Podcast to discuss the grassroots pledge he's made with Marrapalooza, the DIY festival in Newcastle's Ouseburn Valley - redirecting ad spend away from Meta, refusing to book artists based on follower counts, and putting money back into the local scene instead of offshore platforms. We also get into the bigger picture: why 85% of Arts Council music funding goes to opera and classical music while brass bands and folk get 0.6% each, how Spotify has spent fifteen years extracting hundreds of millions from British artists, and why the grassroots levy risks being offshored by Instagram ads. David speaks from twenty years of promoting in the North East - from £1-on-the-door pub nights in Sunderland to putting on Sam Fender's second ever gig, to building a festival with a clear political philosophy. He talks about "algorithm begging," the case for community-owned venues modelled on working men's clubs, n